Anything You Want

Steve Blank: No plan survives first contact with customers.

Even if you want to be big someday, remember that you never need to act like a big boring company.

If you want to be useful, you can always start now, with only 1 percent of what you have in your grand vision. It'll be a humble prototype version of your grand vision, but you'll be in the game. You'll be ahead of the rest, because you actually started, while others are waiting for the finish line to magically appear at the starting line.

After reading the whole thing, I felt like saying things my old voice teacher would have said: “OK, make a plan that requires only $1000. Go!” “Now make a plan for ten times as many customers. Go!” “Now do it without a website. Go!” “Now make all your initial assumptions wrong, and have it work anyway. Go!” “Now show how you would franchise it. Go!

This time, instead of just answering the question, I called everyone together for a minute. I repeated the situation and the question for everyone. I answered the question, but more important, I explained the thought process and philosophy behind my answer.

Never do anything just for the money.

If you're ever unsure what to prioritize, just ask your customers the open-ended question, “How can I best help you now?” Then focus on satisfying those requests.

When you build your business on serving thousands of customers, not dozens, you don't have to worry about any one customer leaving or making special demands. If most of your customers love what you do, but one doesn't, you can just say goodbye and wish him the best, with no hard feelings.

You need to know your personal philosophy of what makes you happy and what's worth doing.

No matter which goal you choose, there will be lots of people telling you you're wrong. Just pay close attention to what excites you and what drains you. Pay close attention to when you're being the real you and when you're trying to impress an invisible jury.